David Simon doesn't want to hear about your love for The Wire
By James Brady RyanApril 5th, 2012, 5:15 pmComments (22)
Do you love The Wire? You probably do, because most people who watch it absolutely love it. But I have a more important question for you: did you watch The Wire live, viewing every episode on its original air date? Because if not — because if you watched it later, through DVDs or HBO Go, for example — show creator David Simon really doesn't care what you think about it, as he made perfectly clear in an interview with the New York Times:
"I do have a certain amused contempt for the number of people who walk sideways into the thing and act like they were there all along. It’s selling more DVDs now than when it was on the air. But I’m indifferent to who thinks Omar is really cool now, or that this is the best scene or this is the best season."
In fact, not only does Simon not care what you think about the series now, four years after it last aired — which is valid enough, I guess — he thinks that people like you are actively preventing television from becoming a "serious" medium:
"If you want television to be a serious storytelling medium, you’re up against a lot of human dynamic that is arrayed against you. Not the least of which are people who arrived to “The Wire” late, planted their feet, and want to explain to everybody why it’s so cool. Glad to hear it. But you weren’t paying attention."
And David, people who come to The Wire late, do you think they even, like, get it? Can they even comprehend your grand vision?
"You got led there at the end and generally speaking, you’re asserting for the wrong things."
Oh my God, shut up. Look, David Simon is incredibly good at what he does. The Wire was amazing, and I don't think you'll hear many arguments to the contrary. Treme wasn't as transcendent, but was still quality television. And I understand why a show runner would feel bitter that a show that struggled to stay on the air has so many vocal fans now. I don't begrudge him that and I think it's totally acceptable to air such grievances.
But have you ever heard someone so contemptuous of his audience? Of his fans? He comes off as little more than a jerk. If it's so wearying for him to deal with all that adulation he receives — which must be so hard — then he should just stop. If he wants people to watch his show when it airs or not at all, he shouldn't work with a paid subscription channel. And if he really doesn't care about fans, or whether they loved it, hated it, or even understood it at all, he definitely shouldn't whine about low ratings. He can't have it both ways.
Commentarium (22 Comments)
Well it's not like he doesn't have a point. It's easy to look back on something revolutionary and agree that it was significant. It's harder to watch something revolutionary begin and hop onboard despite the very real possibility of failure. I mean everyone agrees The Beatles are great now, but at the time there were a lot of people who thought they were unraveling the moral fiber of America. It was much braver to be a Beatles fan then than now. Now everyone is. Which, it should be said, doesn't diminish their importance (nor does it diminish The Wire's, as Simon seems to mistakenly believe), but it does seem a little cheap to hop on the bandwagon once it's gone safely mainstream. I think that's his point, however poorly expressed it may be.
Exactly. Take Firefly. Fantastic program. But due to a wide variety of issues, mainly Fox's fault, it did not sustain audience interest to merit a second season. And now one sees across the internet continual championing of how amazing the series was, how silly the fox Execs were, blah blah blah.
How many of those "uber fans" actually watched it when it aired in 2002? It wasn't a cheap show, and great box set sales now did not to propel it further, or give it those extra seasons it required to grow and blossom.
Shows like Seinfeld were banal the first season, peopple forget. It's almost a miracle it was given a chance. When a show piques your interest, even when it's less than perfect, support or shut up later, really.
The Beatles were a huge, unavoidable phenomenon. The Wire was a little failing TV show. I'm not saying you're wrong about The Wire, but you're wrong about The Beatles.
He sounds like a jackass. He's done a lot of brilliant stuff, much of it groundbreaking, but he didn't invent the TV revolution. Maybe he's heard of this little show called The Sopranos? The reason shows like The Wire are able to be made?
Because The Wire owes nothing at all to Homicide. The TV Revolution! You're cute.
with your attitude? That The Wire owes some of its existence to other shows is exactly the point Edie made...
I love The Wire.
David Simon is right on all counts. And I don't think he needs your career advice.
I do think that there is a point to be made in the need to watch good television as it airs -- people are far, far too cavalier about letting shows air for a season or two before deciding whether or not to pick them up. It does make it hard for good television to succeed. And yes, it would be wonderful if people made a more concerted effort to seek out good television.
But there are some major problems in what he's saying. 1 -- people that get turned on to a show like The Wire, The Sopranos, etc., belatedly, often aren't just turned on to one show -- they're turned on to television, as a form. That's how you cultivate a group of people that take television seriously. 2 -- Netflix viewers and DVD buyers are both money. If television can't play to those markets, that's its fault, not the viewers. Film currently thrives on the home viewer market. It adapted to video rentals and DVD sales and now it's adapting to streaming technology. There is a shitload of money there, and network television needs to learn how to anticipate and activate that delicious superfan cash. And 3 -- he just sounds like a dick that's picking on his fans. His fans are carrying Treme on their backs right now. It's just polite (and good business sense) to not be a huge ass to the people who are sustaining your art.
Ypu're touching on the good stuff there. The problem of connecting audiences with good content will ne resolved by technology in time.
Sopranos>The Wire
Mad Men>Wire>Breaking Bad>Sopranos>NCIS
Not owning a TV and being brainwashed>TV shows of any ilk.
Owning a TV and not over-watching it because you have a life and self-control > not owning a TV and subconsciously broadcasting one's insecurity/inferiority to the world in article comments.
Not being a douchebag who dismisses art in forms he's not comfortable with > being that douchebag.
Not using basic math symbols in internet pissing matches > ... DAMNIT
2 fed the troll. The troll hoped for more.
Why use Treme in the past tense? Season 3 is currently in production.
*cough* Arrested Development *cough*
that guy is a prick.
i think it's fair to say that this new [The] Wire fandom is mostly concentrated among 20-somethings, meaning they were (20-something - 10 years) something-teens when the show was originally broadcast.
at 13, procedurals never interested me. they still don't.
Elitist prick. Some of us can't afford HBO on top of the fortune the cable company already scam us for the basic setup. We hear good things about some of their shows and pick up on them later via Netflix. And thereby put money in his already over-stuffed pockets.
This just in: David Simon is a bit of an asshole. *gasp*